Photo Caption: Alicia Churchy of Antietam Academy High looks for the next note as she struts on stage with the microphone in hand.

Antietam Academy's Open Mic Night

Hagerstown, MD- For many in the school system it is known that the students of Antietam Academy High School like to speak their minds. On Thursday, March 27, they are going to do it through a microphone and in front of an audience.
The staff and students of AA High School are presenting their first ever Open Mic Night later this month. The night celebrates the school's ongoing Reading initiative through the students' current study of Bronx Masquerade by Niki Grimes. Also being celebrated is Antietam's newest team-member Kate Forrest, a Substance Abuse Prevention Counselor. Forrest will be working with the students on the Mind Over Matter curriculum, focusing on prevention and reduction of substance abuse.
The school's Open Mic Night is open to all school students, parents, and to the public at large. Poetry readings, singing, and hip-hop are all possible offerings for the event, which will begin at 5:30pm. In conjunction with Antietam's Mind Over Matter program, participants are also encouraged to share their thoughts about the effects of substance abuse on our lives. Dinner food will be professionally catered and will be supplemented with dessert buns that the students will prepare themselves.
"The planning for this involves not only changing a classroom space into something with a coffee house or lounge feeling but also a mental preparation, a chance for all of us to watch change happen in ourselves," said Academy Fine Arts Teacher Michael Maginnis. Antietam students are already in preparation for the event: the highest-performing art class is painting Art Nouveau-inspired posters advertising the event, and students have also been taking part in photo shoots to help design other promotional posters for the evening.
School staff report the sign-up procedure will constitute an open list started at least two weeks prior to the event and will be kept at Antietam Academy High School's building on the South Hagerstown High School Campus. Those interested in participating and/or contributing to Antietam Academy's first Open Mic Night are encouraged to contact teacher Michael Maginnis at 301-491-4263 or e-mail at maginmic@wcboe.k12.md.us.